Learn to answer patients’ unasked questions. Based on your experience with surgical patients, you probably know what questions are on their mind, even if they’re not telling you. Reassure them about …

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Find reasons to compliment all surgical patients. Compliments not only make patients feel good, but they also demonstrate that you’re paying attention to them personally. They will feel more relaxed, …

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Pay attention to overhead. Overhead is necessary for running a surgical practice, but unnecessary expenses can hurt the office’s financial health. To operate successfully, the practice must …

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Advice for the Surgical Specialist – Delegate responsibilities. As the practice’s primary producer, you can raise production dramatically by delegating virtually all non-clinical responsibilities to …

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Follow up personally with surgical patients after treatment. Show patients how much you care about them. The evening after treatment, someone… preferably the surgical specialist… should call them at …

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Make systems evaluation a team effort. All surgical staff members should be on the lookout every day for problems with the management systems they use. Make notes about bottlenecks and inefficiencies, …

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Use the morning meeting to plan ahead. It’s always best for the team to know what kind of day they are about to have. What happens if a patient cancels? Is there someone the office can contact to fill …

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Scripting Tip: Avoid saying, “Do you have any questions?” That question may sound harmless, but it can send the wrong message to surgical patients. Some will think you’re in a hurry to wrap up the …

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Advice for the Surgical Specialist – Provide continual and relevant training. In today’s ever-changing field of dentistry, team members need to update their skills annually. Just as surgical …

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Define your surgical team commitment. Based on the surgical specialist’s vision and goals, your practice should spell out its primary commitment, for example: We are committed to meeting the highest …

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Conduct surveys once or twice a year. Surveys of patients should include 5–10 questions and take only a few minutes to complete either in the office or online. By listening to your patients, the …

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Overcome adversity with the right attitude. If the surgical specialist or any team members tend to display negativity, it will probably drag other team members down and add to overall stress in the …

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